Control-Oriented Drift-Flux Modeling of Single and Two-Phase Flow for Drilling

Ulf Jakob F Aarsnes (1) , Florent Di Meglio (2) , Steinar Evje (3) , Ole Morten Aamo (1)

1 NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology [Trondheim]
2 CAS - Centre Automatique et Systèmes
3 Department of Petroleum Engineering

We present a simplified drift-flux model for gas-liquid flow in pipes. The model is able to handle single and two-phase flow thanks to a particular choice of empirical slip law. A presented implicit numerical scheme can be used to rapidly solve the equations with good accuracy. Besides, it remains simple enough to be amenable to mathematical and control-oriented analysis. In particular, we present an analysis of the steady-states of the model that yields important considerations for drilling practitioners. This includes the identification of 4 distinct operating regimes of the system, and a discussion on the occurrence of slugging in underbalanced drilling.

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Ulf Jakob F Aarsnes, Florent Di Meglio, Steinar Evje, Ole Morten Aamo. Control-Oriented Drift-Flux Modeling of Single and Two-Phase Flow for Drilling. ASME 2014 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, Oct 2014, San Antonio, United States. pp.1-11, ⟨10.1115/DSCC2014-6121⟩. ⟨hal-01499936⟩